THE MARCOS administration now faces the challenge of securing funding for the three major railway projects after the government canceled its applications for loans from China.
Analysts said China’s failure to act on the Philippines’ loan applications for the Calamba-Bicol, Clark-Subic, and Mindanao railway projects showed its lack of commitment despite former President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s Beijing-friendly posture.
“China will tap its own advantage and support the Philippines to improve its infrastructure. Our two sides have been negotiating technical issues and made positive progress to move the projects forward. China is open for technical discussions over our government-to-government projects, and is ready to carry our cooperation forward, in close communication with the Philippine new administration,” the embassy said.
The Philippines recently secured a loan of around P17.39 billion from China for the Samal Island-Davao City Connector with an annual interest rate of 2% and a repayment period of 20 years.Meanwhile, the new administration is looking at the public-private partnership mode to fund the three projects, Mr. Chavez said.
“Reliable rail systems will also positively disrupt the current transportation setup in these areas, as it can compete with buses and trucks in transporting passengers and cargo,” Mr. Ridon said. According to Mr. Chavez, the contract for the P142-billion PNR Bicol was awarded to the joint venture of China Railway Group Ltd., China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group Co. Ltd., and China Railway Engineering Consulting Group Co. Ltd. in January this year. The contract for the construction of the P51-billion Subic-Clark railway was awarded in December 2020 to China Harbour Engineering Co.
For his part, Mr. Santiago said: “Cancel or defer the three rail projects, because they are not economically viable.”The Marcos administration should learn from this “harsh lesson,” particularly in dealing with the Chinese government, Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, a research fellow at the Ateneo de Manila University, said in an e-mailed reply to questions on Saturday.
The Philippines, under Mr. Duterte, received about P12.18-billion loan from China for the Kaliwa Dam project as well as P5.9-billion grant for the Binondo-Intramuros and Estrella-Pantaleon bridges.
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